1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a retail system and, more particularly, to an electronic retail system that provides discounts for selected products within a store.
2. Description of Related Art
Discount coupons are a popular means to stimulate sales of products such as grocery store items. In 1992, approximately 310 billion coupons were distributed and 7.7 billion coupons were redeemed, saving customers $4 billion. It has been estimated that in-store couponing coupled with advertising increases sales by 544%.
A typical marketing scheme involves placing coupons in a newspaper, by printing the coupons in the newspaper or by inserting coupon inserts into the newspaper, and allowing customers to bring the printed coupons to a store for redemption. One problem with this scheme is that the redemption rate is typically only a few percent of the coupons printed, the unredeemed coupons representing an overhead associated with this scheme. To alleviate this overhead, another marketing scheme involves distributing the coupons in the store, thereby avoiding the cost of printing coupons in a newspaper, and capitalizing on the fact that 66% of buyer decisions are made at the time of product purchase. Both the in-store scheme and the newspaper scheme, however, are susceptible to fraud by an unscrupulous retailer that requests reimbursement payments by presenting unredeemed coupons to the clearing house. Other schemes include delivering coupons to consumers through the mail, distributing coupons in or on the product package, and distributing coupons at checkout. All of these schemes have an overhead cost of handling the coupons and of sending the redeemed coupons to a clearing house to enable product manufacturers to reimburse retailers for the reduction in proceeds resulting from coupon redemptions.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a convenient and stimulating shopping environment, having relatively low overhead.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a discounting system that does not generate paper waste.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a discounting system requiring a relatively simple hardware configuration.
To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, there is a method for a plurality of portable cards transported by consumers, and a store includes a plurality of first signals each to corresponding to pricing information for a product; a plurality of first areas each including a shelf, a plurality of units of a respective product, the plurality of units being on the shelf, the plurality of units having a common symbol different than a symbol of units of another product, a respective interface supported by the shelf, and located adjacent to the plurality of units of the respective product such that no units of another product are between the interface and the plurality of units, the interface including a sender for transferring signals to the plurality of cards, and a checkout area including an electromagnetic detector, spatially removed from the plurality of first areas. The method comprises the steps, performed for each interface, of receiving, in the interface, a card signal from a card in the plurality of cards; deciding, responsive to the card signal, whether to transfer one of the first signals to the card; and causing the sender to transfer a first signal corresponding to pricing information for the product represented by the units adjacent to the interface, whenever the deciding step decides to transfer, and further comprising the steps, performed after the card, in the plurality of cards, is carried to the checkout area, of receiving, in a computer, signals corresponding to pricing information from the card, in the plurality of cards, carried to the checkout area; generating, in the electromagnetic detector, a second signal corresponding to a product; receiving, in the computer, the second signal; and determining, in the computer, a price depending on whether the second signal corresponds to one of the received signals corresponding to pricing information.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a store configured to process a plurality of portable cards transported by consumers, the store comprises a plurality of first signals each to corresponding to pricing information for a product; a plurality of first areas each including a shelf, a plurality of units of a respective product, the plurality of units being on the shelf, the plurality of units having a common symbol different than a symbol of units of another product, a respective interface supported by the shelf, and located adjacent to the plurality of units of the respective product such that no units of another product are between the interface and the plurality of units, the interface including a first receiver that receives a card signal from a card in the plurality of cards; logic that decides, responsive to the card signal, whether to send one of the first signals to the card; and a sender that sends a first signal corresponding to pricing information for the product represented by the units adjacent to the interface, whenever the logic decides to send; a checkout area, spatially removed from the plurality of first areas, the checkout area including a second receiver for receiving signals corresponding to pricing information from the card, in the plurality of cards, an electromagnetic detector for generating a second signal corresponding to a product, a receiver for receiving the second signal, and a price determiner for determining a price depending on whether the second signal corresponds to one of the received signals corresponding to pricing information.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is a method of operating a store and a plurality of portable cards transported by consumers, the store includes a plurality of first signals each to corresponding to pricing information for a product; a plurality of first areas each including a shelf, a plurality of units of a respective product, the plurality of units being on the shelf, the plurality of units having a common symbol different than a symbol of units of another product, a respective interface supported by the shelf, and located adjacent to the plurality of units of the respective product such that no units of another product are between the interface and the plurality of units, the interface including a sender for transferring signals to the plurality of cards. The method comprises the steps, performed for each interface, of receiving, in the interface, a card signal from a card in the plurality of cards; deciding, responsive to the card signal, whether to transfer one of the first signals to the card; and causing the sender to transfer a first signal corresponding to pricing information for the product represented by the units adjacent to the interface, whenever the deciding step decides to transfer.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is a processing system for a system including a plurality of portable cards transported by consumers, and a store. The store includes a plurality of first areas each including a shelf, a plurality of units of a respective product, the plurality of units being on the shelf, the plurality of units having a common symbol different than a symbol of units of another product. The processing system comprises a plurality of interfaces, each supported by a shelf in a respective one of the first areas, and located adjacent to the plurality of units of the respective product such that no units of another product are between the interface and the plurality of units, each interface including a receiver that receives a card signal from a card in the plurality of cards; logic that decides, responsive to the card signal, whether to send one of the first signals to the card; and a sender that sends a first signal corresponding to pricing information for the product represented by the units adjacent to the interface, whenever the logic decides to send.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is a processing system for a system including a plurality of portable cards transported by consumers, and a store. The store includes a plurality of first areas each including a shelf, a plurality of units of a respective product, the plurality of units being on the shelf, the plurality of units having a common symbol different than a symbol of units of another product. The processing system comprises a plurality of interfaces, each supported by a shelf in a respective one of the first areas, and located adjacent to the plurality of units of the respective product such that no units of another product are between the interface and the plurality of units, each interface including means for receiving, in the interface, a card signal from a card in the plurality of cards; means for deciding, responsive to the card signal, whether to transfer one of the first signals to the card; and means for transferring a first signal corresponding to pricing information for the product represented by the units adjacent to the interface, whenever the means for deciding decides to transfer.